Documentary Shows

Air Combat covers the history of military aviation from World War I to the present day, focusing on famous aerial engagements, heroic pilots and a dramatic array of aircraft from Harrier Jump Jets to B-52 Bombers.

Technology has made our everyday lives much easier than our ancestors had it. This series explores how this technology works, how it's being used today, and the advances that can be expected in the future.

Combat at Sea combines exciting archival and modern footage with superior reporting to relive great sea battles, explore naval strategy and counter-strategy, and tell the stories of mighty warships and the men who commanded them.

When it's -37 Celsius outside and the wind is howling, most of us would do anything to avoid leaving our cozy homes and going to work. But for a handful of individuals living in the extremes of the Arctic, going out in those conditions is their work.

The rugged Atlantic outpost of Skokholm Island is a bird sanctuary of global importance, but it's fallen on hard times and the buildings have been boarded up and abandoned, and the island put up for sale.

As commanders from the great battles of WWII go head-to-head on the battlefield, they attempt to outwit and outfight each other with strategic moves in a game of skill, bluff and counterbluff. With the lives of thousands of men at risk, the generals' reputations hanging in the balance, the stakes are impossibly high and the pressure is on.

A group of Tasmanian Devils are hauled from the safety of captivity and released into the wilds of a remote island. If they can fend for themselves they might just save their entire species from extinction. But how will the island's teeming wildlife cope with the arrival of their new neighbours?

Am I Perfect? is a documentary series that follows 19-year-old Australian Maddy, as she sets out on a journey to see if ‘Hollywood’ perfection is attainable. In this social experiment, she subjects herself to vigorous beauty treatments, diets and exercise regimes endorsed by the media over a gruelling ten weeks.

With more money than ever before, football has become the sport of high rollers and global sponsors, where being number one is all that counts, in which agents dictate and players dominate. Is the game now an industry, or still a sport, or a hybrid of both?

Modern-day Special Forces troops from the US and Canada are brought together to train using the same methods and equipment as the First Special Service Force in the 1940s. Upon completion of the training, only those who pass will be ordered to reenact one of the key European FSSF missions in the Second World War.

Experience three of the most defining battles in the history of the World in these explosive documentaries; the Battle of Waterloo, the Battle of the Bulge, and Alexander the Great's Battle of Guagamela.

Certain landmarks have captured the imagination and awe of modern-day architects and engineers around the world as they work to solve the mystery of how their ancient forebears were able to construct such beautiful, timeless and revolutionary structures with none of the machines and materials available to modern engineers.

Prepare to go beyond the dojo of pure-style martial arts and explore five new realms of combat. Fight Science brings a selection of nature's best athletes into the lab, to determine the limits of human fighting ability.

The metal industry is a major component of the world economy, and the mining takes place all over the world. Yet their extraction and refinement is still an arduous and dangerous process, not only for the workers but for the surrounding environment.

Narrated by Barry Humphries, the dramatised documentary tells the true story of a brazen band of Aussie thieves who moved to London in the 60s and ran riot, pulling off the most daring heists that Scotland Yard had ever seen.

What if we could pull the plug and drain the planet's water? What would we see? What would we learn? Follow a virtual scientific expedition to the deep as we explore one of earth's last great frontiers.

Roger Rogerson was a tough cop in a tough town. Just what was needed many would say. This 2011 portrayal of his life provides a unique insight into Sydney's underworld, the characters, crimes and the key events that spanned his career as one of the city's most feared law enforcers.

Until 2006, Turkmenistan was run by a crazy dictator whose megalomania spawned a personality cult to rival that of Chairman Mao. This is the story of an unlikely desert republic with a grim reputation and a quite astonishing leader.

YouTube is travelling like a high-speed train into one of the most powerful online platforms in the world. Which clever earnings model is hiding behind this success story, and how will this affect our future media landscape?

Maddy moves into week nine with the famous lemon detox diet. We watch Maddy get her signature freckles removed and despite pushing through intensive obstacle courses she is heartbroken when she finds out that she has actually gained weight.

Well and truly over her body plateauing, Maddy takes drastic action and cuts her calorie intake by half. Despite critical warnings from the dietitian, Maddy takes on the macrobiotic diet, cycling and becomes mummified in a weight loss body wrap.

It is the final week and the lead up to the big finale - Maddy has become a completely different person and is upset at becoming a person she doesn't like. She is desperate to reach her goal and continue losing more weight.

Maddy's spirits are high as she journeys into week two, having already lost 5kg! She eats like a caveman on the Paleo Diet, tests her coordination in home exercise videos and meets with a professional to learn the tricks of make-up.

Meet Maddy - your average 19-year old Australian feeling the pressure to look a certain way. So for ten weeks she is going to try everything the media and her favourite celebrities suggest. Hopefully at the end she will be 'perfect'!

This short film tells the story of four men who spent years of their lives on Death Row for crimes they did not commit, later being exonerated and freed. Ron, Shujaa, Greg and Albert promised that they would work to put an end to the death penalty.

Based around the 2003 World Solar Challenge, Running on Sunshine is the story of an epic journey of 3,000 kilometres across the Australian desert. The documentary reveals the link between the famous event and the development of motor technology.

Follow the epic 3,000 km journey by 40 solar powered cars from 11 nations across the Australian continent. Based around the 1999 World Solar Challenge from Darwin to Adelaide, the documentary follows the fortunes of three solar powered cars.

How has the extremist group Boko Haram, which began as a small Islamic sect, managed to make Nigeria, the richest country in Africa, and all its neighbours, tremble with fear? Who are they and how did they become so powerful?

Six-year-old David is part of the new trans generation of people assigned the wrong sex at birth who chose to make the transition very early. This moving film explores the transitioning through first-hand stories told by four young people.

A captivating step back in time, Pozieres explores the small village in Northern France which, during the Great War in 1916, was the setting of one of the bloodiest battles in history, and a twentieth century tragedy for Australia.

The original Boy from Oz and international superstar Peter Allen captured the imagination of audiences from an early age. Singing alongside Chris Bell in the 1960s as half of The Allen Brothers, Peter was a born performer ready to take on the world.

This groundbreaking documentary presents the history of surfing in Australia from its origin in 1915, through its development with wooden boards, the Malibu revolution of the 50s and 60s, the shortboard revolution of the 70s and into the radical 80s.

The remarkable story of exiled filmmaker Ibrahim Arify as he returns to his native Afghanistan, tasked with restoring 8,000 hours of lost films against Taliban wishes. Films burned and destroyed and thought never to be seen again - until now.

One of the most brutal conflicts in Australian war history, the Kokoda Campaign was a powerful victory that directly saved Australia from the threat of Japanese occupation. These are the harrowing personal stories from the Kokoda Trail in New Guinea.

Princes of the Palace is the first major documentary to chart the lives of the British royal family's princes... Philip, Charles, William, Harry and young Prince George, as they've supported history's longest serving monarch, Queen Elizabeth II.

Three untrained British volunteers with no family connections to the Middle East heed the call to take up arms with Kurdish fighters to reclaim Rojava from ISIS. But they find themselves unprepared for the raw atrocities of combat.

Academics believe that within 40 years humans will be having sex with robots and even falling in love and marrying their android companions. For thousands of men across America, this would be a dream come true, because they're robot fetishists.

Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II's maiden visit to Australia in 1954 marked the end of one era and the dawn of another. This documentary reveals how it touched the very fabric of Australian society and influenced attitudes toward the monarchy.

Tim Flannery and John Doyle investigate how Australia's mineral and agricultural wealth is helping to drive the Chinese economy, feeding its people and accelerating the urbanisation of the most populous nation.